As computing systems have come to dominate both the office and home environments, users of the computing system implemented processes are demanding more speed, efficiency and ease of use from these processes.
One source of inefficiency in many currently used computing system implemented processes is the fact that many processes include electronic data entry forms that require a user to sequence, by tabbing or some similar action, through multiple data entry fields in order to access a desired data entry field. The need to sequence through multiple data entry fields in order to access the desired data entry field is typically only a minor nuisance when data is being entered/accessed for only one item. However, when data associated with several items, or even hundreds of items, is being entered, this process becomes quite tedious and time consuming.
As a specific example, consider the case of a computing system implemented inventory management system. In this specific example, we stipulate that the computing system implemented inventory management system includes an electronic data entry form where data must be entered for each inventory item that is to be tracked/processed using the computing system implemented inventory management system. In this specific example, we will further stipulate that the data fields of the computing system implemented inventory management system electronic data entry form are accessed by either specific individual selection, using a user interface device such as a mouse, or by tabbing through the data fields using the tab key, space bar, or other designated key on a keyboard. It is worth noting that the tabbing option would typically be used most because this allows for both accessing of the data fields and data entry using a single user interface device, e.g., a keyboard, and does not require the user to lose his or her focus and/or context in order to manipulate a mouse or other second user interface device.
For this specific example, we further stipulate that the data entry fields of the electronic data entry form are accessed by tabbing in the following specific sequence: item name; item description; item category; item unit price; related items; quantity of items in inventory; manufacturer part number; and item serial number.
In this specific example, assume the user has taken delivery of 100 units of inventory. In this specific example, we further stipulate that an itemized shipping list is included with the delivery listing each item individually, along with data for each item that is to be entered into the computing system implemented inventory management system. It is further stipulated that the shipping list includes the following information about each item, listed in the following order: serial number of the item; manufacturer part number; name of the item; the item category; and item unit price.
Using the example above, the user of the computing system implemented inventory management system would have to perform the following steps to transfer/enter data from the shipping list into the computing system implemented inventory management system:
1. Tab through each of the data entry fields for: item name; item description; item category; item unit price; related items; quantity of items in inventory; and manufacturer part number to access the serial number data entry field and enter the item serial number, (7 tabbing actions);
2. Tab through each of the data entry fields for: serial number; item name; item description; item category; item unit price; related items; and quantity of items in inventory to access the manufacturer part number data entry field and enter the manufacturer part number data (7 tabbing actions);
3. Tab through each of the data entry fields for manufacturer part number and item serial number to access the item name data entry field and enter the item name data (2 tabbing actions);
4. Tab through each of the data entry fields for item name and item description to access the item category data field and enter the item category data (2 tabbing actions); and
5. Tab through the data entry field for the item category to access the item unit price data entry field and enter the item unit price data (1 tabbing action).
Consequently, even in the very simple example shown above, the user must perform 19 tabbing actions to enter the data for a single item of inventory. This equates to at least 1900 tabbing actions for the 100 units of inventory that were received in the example above. As cumbersome as this seems, the example above is relatively simple with only five data elements per inventory item. In a real world example, there could be 10 or 20 data fields per inventory item and it is not uncommon for the number of inventory items to be in the thousands. Consequently, as noted above, while these sequencing/tabbing actions might be ignorable singly, collectively they can be quite burdensome and a significant source of inefficiency, not to mention a significant source of carpel tunnel syndrome, workman's compensation claims and lost/wasted man-hours.